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MARGARITO HAS A SHOT OR JUST ANOTHER VICTIM?

Los Angeles, CA- This coming Saturday marks what is expected to be the most important prizefight of 2010 when Filipino icon and congressman Manny “Pacman” Pacquaio (51-3-2, 38 KOs) defends not only his pound for pound crown, he looks to gain a world title in an eighth weight division, albeit at a catch weight. His foe is the shamed cheater Antonio “Tijuana Tornado” Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs) whose trainer at the time, Javier Capetillo was caught loading his handwraps with a “plaster” like substance before his fight with “Sugar Shane Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KOs) in January 2009.

NOBODY BUT SHEEP BELIEVE THE ” I DIDN’T KNOW” BULL SPIT

Margarito maintains his innocence, that he did not know what was being inserted into his wraps. Whether you believe his story or not, the accused honored the one year revocation of his boxing license by the California State Athletic Commission, but was denied reinstatement. The nice guys that they are in Texas, their commission decided to grant Antonio a boxing license (ching, ching) and as a consequence this Saturday the two will fight for the vacant WBC junior middleweight (154 lb) title at Cowboys Stadium in front of a crowd said to exceed 50,000. While this bout is being waged at a catch weight of 150, a weight that on the surface seems to give the Mexican an advantage as Margarito reportedly started his seven week training camp weighing close to 160.

CONTRARY REPORTS ABOUND ON MARGARITO

Antonio reportedly has looked great in camp, however by possibly overtraining that success might not translate to the ring on fight night. Especially when fighting a buzz-saw in the likes of Pacquiao. At the same time, there are reports that Antonio is a walking dead man trying to make weight.

A BUM TO MANY, STILL TONY’S A BIG BUM

There’s a lot to like about Margarito’s chances on paper. He’s the larger man, stronger specimen and possibly the bigger puncher. However, it’s no secret that his footwork is mediocre, he’s not just a tad slower than Pacquiao he is significantly slower, and extremely predictable. The Mexican has a decent jab, but tends to not use it effectively or consistently, and throws wide punches, many times lunging at his opponents. He will need to get the Filipino star on the ropes to do damage, an area where Manny’s trainer Freddie Roach knows there’ll be considerable peril. Don’t expect him to spend much time in that vicinity, if it is up to him.

CAN EAT PUNCHES & WEAR GUYS OUT

The huge factor in this match is that for all the pressure that Margarito puts on his foes he eats a lot of punches trying to get his shots in. In his fight against Miguel Cotto (35-2, 28 KOs) in 2008 he took clean shot after clean shot in most of the early rounds. When Cotto, who is known to fade late in fights, had to stand and trade after his legs began to get weary from moving so much, the Mexican eventually stopped him in the 11th round. Against Paquaio he will be dealing with a fighter that’s got better footwork than Cotto, hits just as hard and is a southpaw. The Filipino also possesses amazing stamina. Manny’s superior defense to that of Cotto should be the difference here. He won’t be available to take the punishment because he will be dishing it out and getting away from the return fire.

LACK OF DEFENSE NOT HELPING MEXICAN HERE

It was extremely evident in the fight with Mosley that Margarito has defensive liabilities, some that may have been corrected, but habits that will be taken advantage of. He is regularly open for right hands, and from the southpaw stance that may be even more dangerous especially when you consider the speed and awkwardness of the Filipino’s style. One popular assessment is that although Margarito is touted for having an iron chin, he took considerable punishment in his two biggest fights (versus Mosley and Cotto) and as a result may be a spent bullet.

EX-CHAMP GARCIA NOW IN CORNER

The Mexican has the heart and courage to win the fight, I just don’t see how new trainer Roberto Garcia can turn an outright slugger into a boxer in two fights. Margarito who is about five inches taller than Pacquiao negates his size advantage by choosing to fight on the inside. If Tony was a better boxer it would be easier to institute a successful game plan, but if the plan is to just put pressure and rely on power and size he’s going to be waving shots at Pacman all night without doing the necessary damage to pull off an upset. Unless the Filipino’s reported distractions have diminished him to a level where he can’t keep Margarito off him for 12 rounds, I expect Pacquiao to weather what should be an early “Tornado” and cruise to a 12 round decision.

43 comments

MIKE: In regards to weight, you just have to weigh in UNDER the weight both fighters agreed upon…pacquiao could have came in at 140 if he wanted to..now to come in anything above 150 is where this particular fight was set up for is what was not allowed…get it? during fight night, it was like a welterweight fighting a middleweight..the size disadvantage pac was under speaks for itself..

Pac actually reminds me alot of Bruce Lee, when he fights, he even
looks like him. Bruce had about the same height & body + the same
speed & power!! Bruce was challeged by martial artist from all
around the world on his movie sets & always won!! Because he
was the best in the world!! All you have to do is read the book
“The legend of Bruce Lee” And now Pac has become a legendary
fighter like Bruce!! Pac has proved to the world, that size don’t
mean shit!!

He didn’t have quite the same snap as in the Oscar, Cotto and Hatton fights and I wondered why, as a southpaw, he kept moving to his left. I’m sure he knew what he was doing – he managed to land a shit load of big left hands down that’s for sure. Margo looked slower than usual but never stopped walking up, and hung tough in there.

The ONLY reason Pacroid and Roach are fighting this guy is cause he is washed up. I mean when was his lsat real win? 2008! We are less than 2 months from 2011!. Margacheato and Pacroid…..this can’t be the best boxing has to offer. There are better fighters out there who don’t use steroids or load their gloves.

It’s so freakin hilarious that Pacquiao is supposed to figh for another title belt in a different weight class and he doesn’t even make the welterweight weight of 147…ha..ha…144.6…WTF?? Somebody please explain! At least make the catch weight..damn! Now that’s a joke instead of the fight itself.

When you see still photos of Margo, he looks like a monster – huge and ripped. When you see training videos, he looks glacier slow. You have to see a guy in motion in order to predict how he will do. I predict that the speed merchant Pac will win this fight despite the discrepancy in physique.

“There’s no way this fight goes 12 rounds, and there’s no way Margarito wins. I’ve been watching boxing 25 years and I rarely, rarely make a definitive prediction, but Margarito is positioned to get absolutely destroyed. You simply cannot compensate for the unbelievable discrepency in speed. Margarito is on the slow side for a contender–Pacquiao has possibly the fastest hands in the history of boxing.”

The significantly slower Chavez was able to overcome the speed and power of Meldrick Taylor.
Duran was able to overcome the much faster Sugar Ray Leonard.
A fading Morales overcame the much faster Pacquiao (1st fight).
Castillo got jobbed in the decision, but he was able to overcome the much faster Mayweather (1st fight).

Speed can be nullified. You make it sound like Margarito has no power and won’t hit Pacquiao at all. Margarito’s body shots (an all the punches on the arm and gloves) will slow Pacquiao down and when that happens, which is inevitable, things become bad for Pacquiao. His best chance is to catch Margarito early as he typically starts slow did kill any momentum, much like Mosley did, though he is a completely different fighter than Mosley.

Additionally, people have read into his lost against Mosley way too much. All the weight loss issues and mental distractions aside, Mosley was a great fighter and is still damn good. he was the better man that night and would have whooped Pacquiao on that night as well. He’s bigger, tougher, stronger and nearly as fast.

Not sure what fighters he’s been avoiding. I can understand if he ducked fighters to fight lesser foes, but i don’t see that here. Yeah he’s fighting Top Rank fighters for the most part, but Pac fought Marquez twice, when Barerra and Morales and Hamed wouldn’t even give him an opportunity. As for African American fightes he ducked, I can’t think of one in the lower weights that was even on his level….Joan Guzman who has more of an American style is the only fighter that you can say he ducked. If you think he should fight Tim Bradley or Berto, so be it but Margrito is by no means a walk in the Park. If you want to talk about Morals…thats another story. I don’t think Manny should be giving him the opportunity, however Arum calls the shots when it should be the other way around.

Why can’t I bash because of what I’ve seen on 24/7 and have read about? Team Pac targets specific opponents for Pac based on slow hand speed and how they have looked in their last 2 or 3 fights. Even Pedro has made the argument here in Ringtalk that Pac aviods certain fighters. Mainly it’s African American fighters, but I would include any Young Gun w/ quick hands to match Pac’s speed. Notice that in virtually all of Pac’s fights, Roach says the same thing; “This guy is made to order for Pac.” Other than that, Yeah I agree Margo has a chance. And I agree that it’s what you said, He has to get Pac to plant his feet and trade.

There’s no way this fight goes 12 rounds, and there’s no way Margarito wins. I’ve been watching boxing 25 years and I rarely, rarely make a definitive prediction, but Margarito is positioned to get absolutely destroyed. You simply cannot compensate for the unbelievable discrepency in speed. Margarito is on the slow side for a contender–Pacquiao has possibly the fastest hands in the history of boxing.

Look for Pacquiao to beat on Margarito like a heavy bag–and essentially at will–while eating nothing in return.

I predict one of the most one-sided major PPV fights of all time.

Margarito either goes down or his people call it off before six rounds. It’s going to be ugly people–a slow guy with bad defense versus an incredibly quick and murderous puncher.

There’s no way this fight goes 12 rounds, and there’s no way Margarito wins. I’ve been watching boxing 25 years and I rarely, rarely make a definitive prediction, but Margarito is positioned to get absolutely destroyed. You simply cannot compensate for the unbelievable discrepency in speed. Margarito is on the slow side for a contender–Pacquiao has possibly the fastest hands in the history of boxing.

Look for Pacquiao to beat on Margarito like a heavy bag–and essentially at will–while eating nothing in return.

I predict one of the most one-sided major PPV fights of all time.

Margarito either goes down or his people call it off before six rounds. It’s going to be ugly people–a slow guy with bad defense versus an incredibly quick and murderous puncher.

Hahaha, Laurence Cole. Hadn’t heard that but hey, why not? Just make this joke of a fight an even bigger joke by putting that incompetent piece of garbage in there. Whoopee! I am glad I won’t be watching this circus. I feel like taking a shower every time I post about it.

cheato has no shot, not only is he going to be weight drained for the fight but he is too slow to do anything. his defense is subpar, and you cannot pressure someone or put them on the ropes if your punches lack power and your legs are gone from the weight drain. Cheato was done when he signed on the dotted line and agreeing on a catch weight for a 154 lb title. Everyone who even partakes in this fight should be ashamed of themselves, this goes for anyone who buys it aswell. This whole fight is a joke.

I think instead of basing who wins on what you’ve seen on 24/7 base it on the track record of each fighters last three to four fights. Yeah Antonio says he’s had a great camp, but just about every fighter before a big fight says it’s the best camp they’ve ever had in their career. Pac is a lot smaller than Margarito, so thats to his advantage, however Pac has many other advantages. Being smaller can be just as much of an advantage . Sometimes it’s difficult to land blows on someone that much shorter than you. Margarito throws wide punches and sound conditioning doesn’t always make up for obvious natural qualities that Margarito lacks; speed and athleticism. This fight may end up like Duran vs Barkley. Barley was a lot bigger, but Duran was a much more skilled practitioner of the sweet science. Also Pac has much better handspeed and the difference in lateral movement isn’t even comparable. I don’t think Pac gets the KO because I don’t think he’s going to be taking the kind of chances to get one. Margarito’s only shot is to get Pacquiao to stand and trade. Thats something I only believe Pac will do in the later rounds if somehow Margarito starts to run out of gas.

ABNOY OWNS YELLOW PACLAND & JUETENG
The alibis are already there. Didn’t you see Roach tell Margo that he (Roach) saw his last 2 fights? The KO by Mosley and his underwhelming performance vs Garcia. Team Pac specifically targeted Margo for those reasons. The same way Roach targeted DLH and knew DLH was done when he announced and Told DLH that he (DLH) couldn’t “pull the trigger” anymore. The same way Team Pac cherry picked most of Pac’s fights.
Pac = Cherry picker.

George Larson is right! The REAL winner is ARUM, all the way to th bank. He even has Mosley lined up for the next fight.

Manny is on a diffrent level and margarito is way out of what manny has right now.He may be big in size but skills and natural talent plus brilliance is what makes the difference between the two of them.Manny on Rd3 or 7/8.Exciting

Sound analysis by Kevin. I’m a Filipino but But I tend to disagree that Pacquiao is the obvious winner. In fact, I suspect Pacquiao will be in for the surprise of his life. I’ve always wondered why he isn’t a bit concerned about Margarito. Is Pacquiao being brainwashed by Roach’s assessment of Margarito? The way Margarito trained is amazing, full focus and no distractions. I don’t think I;ve known him trained any harder in his previous fights, plus his motivations couldn’t be any greater. But if I’m a boxing nut with no affiliations to Pacquiao, I’d go for Margarito on this one.

I don’t know what sickens me more, my previous post (see above) or the fact that Roach is a complete hypocrite. I do not agree with your statement by the way:
“NOBODY BUT SHEEP BELIEVE THE ” I DIDN’T KNOW” BULL SPIT” If you’ve ever read any of my posts, you know that I am highly critical of everything, and if I agree with your statement, I would have to call Roach the head sheep. That’s right, if you remember correctly, Roach initially supported Margo’s claim that Margo knew nothing about the wraps. He even admitted so in an interview w/ Thomas Hauser and during an interview that can be found on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkpipMyoqj0
Roach also said he wants a “Fair Playing field” for Pac’s fights, but still Team Pac asks for a cutoff for the random testing. In the last round of negotiations with PBF, they asked for a 7 day cutoff, and they admit to it on 24/7.

I couldn’t agree more. In fact, I had posted that Arum was looking to fight Mosley next about a month ago on another thread here. Can’t wait for the Pac fans to CLAIM it’s a legit fight 4 Pac, though they ridiculed PBF for fighting Mosley. Though Mosley was the REAL 147 champ at the time. They mocked me when I brought up the fact that Team Pac blatantly ducked Mosley after Mosley challenged Pac after the Hatton fight. A few yrs later, and a whipping by PBF though, and NOW Mosley is a certified contender to Pac’s throne.

Lots of people are talking about Manny’s distraction in the Philippines. We may never knows that those distractions are just deceptions and lies to outwit Margarito. It is possible that Pacquaio may perhaps train every day way back even after beating Clotty. Pianist trains every day even before the concert is still far in schedule, so is Boxing.

Watching the Pacquiao vs Cotto once again in HBO replay, it’s a revealation by manny ,he withstood solid blows from Cotto and then TKO the same in the 12th.Pacquiao vs Margarito will run in similar intensity on the earlier rounds.But the latter will absorb a lot of solid blows from Pacquiao, it might spell the big difference in the mid-to-ending rounds,or might not reach too.

IMO, a complete joke of a fight. I don’t know why I do it to myself, but I was slumming over on boxingscene.com (I feel like I need a shower now) and they had this silly article about how arum is close to setting up Mosely vs. pac. Mosley is so past it, that it’s hilarious. He looked abysmal against Mora and this is the guy that is going to be billed as another elite fighter who has fallen at the hands of the great Pacroid. Well at least they can call it “Clash of the Juicers…”

A good big man always beats a good little man. Margarito will win by KO in round 7 or 8.

Manny will get walked down and pounded, he won’t be able to escape or fight going backwards because he can’t. Manny even if he wins he is going to take a serious beating.

Manny and Roach bit off more than they can chew this time. They saw Margarito take a beating from Mosley and started thinking Margarito is ripe for the picking. You know how they love to fight fighters coming off big losses.

I think it comes down to focus. Who has it? If Manny can stay on his toes and counterpunch when margarito misses, he’ll win the decision. If Margarito can cut off the ring and throw his combinations while manny’s back is on the ropes, he has a good chance to knock manny out. Manny by Decision I don’t think he’ll get a KO here.

Margarito is a pressure fighter. That’s all he knows. He can try to corner Pacquiao all he wants, but he’s going to get hit with right hooks and left straights coming in, which I wouldn’t be surprised if Margarito gets a broken nose or dislocated jaw. If Pacquiao does get caught in the corner he can take a few punches, but he can easily turn and switch positions and have Margarito stuck in the corner for return fire; he did this with Cotto. Bottom line, Pacquiao is going to land more punches, and do more damages as the rounds progress, and Margarito is going to realize that he underestimated the Filipino. I wouldn’t be surprised by the 8th or 9th rounds if we see Margarito backpeddling instead of applying pressure. This is a war of wills, and with Pacquiao’s speed, it will break Margarito’s will and although he’s a true Mexican and not a quitter, he’s gonna get punished for it if he chooses to keep coming forward.

One big left from Manny that lands on Margarito’s face makes him disoriented, slows him down further. The beginning of the end will start for Margarito. Justice for Puerto Ricans will be served in Dallas.

i disagree with the decision.
win. this will be ko. i dnt think tony has a one punch ko power and he is too open and too slow to escape the punches. anybody watched the cotto fight? the only reason it went 12 was because cotto was backpedaling most of the rounds and tony doesnt hav the footwork for that. margarito is like a bigger hatton with better uppercuts which is dangerous for pac because he is vulnerable to that but this will be ko for pac.

Looking at a pic of Pacman at his recent workout in Dallas he is smaller compared to the weighin for clottey he looks like he 140 pounds.I like Manny but if the Margarito who fought Cotto shows up in Dallas manny is in trouble,but I guess thats the Million dollar question!